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Profile | He trained at Michelin-star restaurants, then picked up a wok and learned to cook ‘fun’ Chinese food. Andersen Lee on his new Montreal joint Oncle Lee

  • Canadian chef Andersen Lee learned European cuisine and cooked for Adele and David Beckham. He then realised ‘Chinese food is cool’ and decided to change course
  • Helped by his Hong Kong-born dad and YouTube cooking videos, he discovered his roots and opened Oncle Lee, in Montreal, serving affordable modern Chinese dishes

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Chinese-Canadian chef Andersen Lee at his Montreal restaurant Oncle Lee. Lee, 25, who trained in Michelin-star restaurants, opens up about switching from cooking European food to affordable Chinese food, and discovering his roots. Photo: Scott Usheroff
Bernice Chanin Vancouver

When young Chinese-Canadian chef Andersen Lee won a scholarship from the organisation behind World’s 50 Best Restaurants, it opened the door for him to intern at some of the world’s leading restaurants.

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He spent time in the kitchens of Julien Royer at Odette in Singapore (No 1 on the 2020 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list) and Core by Clare Smyth in London – both three-Michelin-star restaurants – and Quintonil in Mexico City, currently 9th on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

While Lee, now 25, learned a lot in these top kitchens, he discovered more about himself too.

“Those three experiences, first of all, really made me realise that I’m a home bird,” he says. “I changed my perspective of wanting to see the world’s best restaurants and thinking that the Montreal food scene wasn’t world class.

Lee puts the finishing touches to a dish at Oncle Lee. Photo: Scott Usheroff
Lee puts the finishing touches to a dish at Oncle Lee. Photo: Scott Usheroff

“Doing stages [internships] and being abroad (made me) realise I have to do my restaurant at home … and it also made me realise that I had to cook Chinese food.”

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That’s why he’s excited about opening Oncle Lee, a modern Chinese restaurant in Montreal with door handles in the shape of a pair of shiny dragons. On the menu are dishes like black bean steamed oysters, doubanjiang beef tartare, five spice duck platter, and “fondue Chinoise” or hotpot.

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